[JURIST] In an order issued just after midnight Wednesday morning, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit [official website] agreed to consider Bob and Mary Schindler's request for a new hearing en banc on whether a feeding tube for their brain-damaged daughter Terri Schiavo [JURIST news archive] should be reconnected. Last Friday a three-judge panel of the court rejected an appeal [JURIST report] from a federal district judge's second ruling against re-connection of the tube pending review of Schiavo's case. The request for a new hearing by the full court was made "in light of the magnitude of what is at stake and the urgency of the action required." Attorneys for the Schindlers are arguing [petition, PDF text] that the district court "committed plain error when it reviewed only the state court case and outcome history," and have asked the appeals court to base its decision on rehearing on the seven-year history of evidence in the Schiavo case, not whether Florida court rulings met appropriate legal standards. See a copy of the Eleventh Circuit order [PDF] allowing the petition for rehearing. AP has more.

About Paper Chase

Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news service, powered by a team of 30 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible format.